• Posts Tagged ‘City Council’

    Looking at Rates and Perceptions

    by  • January 27, 2012 • News & Views • 2 Comments

    The second part of Thursday’s City Council Finance Committee meeting started with a simple question, and ended with a set of motions fixing the next step in the City’s consideration of electric rate increases. In the middle was a good amount of dialogue, including a few rather stark differences of opinion.

    The initial question was raised by one of those gathered to listen to the Finance Committee meeting:

    In the 2011 Revenue Requirements (the amount needed to be obtained to operate the electrical utility) shared by Sawvel and Associates, some $296,668 was added to total expenditures with a caption of “Uncollected Billing Revenue and Other.” If this is correct, the questioner posed, why should paying electric customers be paying for those who do not pay their bill, and does this … Read the rest

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    City Reexamines Electric Rates

    by  • January 26, 2012 • News & Views • 0 Comments

    NOTE: The lengthy City Council Finance Committee meeting on Thursday was quite long and full of open dialogue. GalionLive will present our coverage of the meeting in two installments — first looking at the presentation by the City’s electric rate consultants, and then looking at the engaging conversation which occurred after that presentation was finished.

    The room was full on Thursday morning as the Finance Committee of Galion City Council conducted its long-anticipated review of the City’s proposed electric rate increase. And, while there was no resolution of that issue, it is evident that it will be some time before that increase will be enacted — if ever.

    The meeting followed a brief, eight-minute session of the Galion Financial Planning and Supervision Commission, which is assigned the duty of … Read the rest

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    Council Considers Brief Agenda

    by  • January 25, 2012 • News & Views • 0 Comments

    There were a couple of new fixtures in place at Tuesday’s meeting of Galion City Council. For one, a new digital clock graced the Council table, and for another, a new sound system made for much better room acoustics (see photo).

    And one of the briefest Galion Council meetings in months saw the consideration of three legislative items, as well as a handful of items mentioned by City Manager Gene Toy. Councilwoman Cathy George was absent and excused.

    Legislation included the following:

    Council passed a First Reading of an ordinance expanding the Uptowne Design Review District to encompass the former Galion Middle School property, now known as the Historic Union Schoolyard. This expansion was an express request of the Galion Historical Society, owners of the property.

    The Society … Read the rest

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    Council Organizes, Authorizes Purchases, Honors Freese

    by  • January 10, 2012 • News & Views • 7 Comments

    The first Galion City Council meeting of 2012 on Tuesday evening saw two new eager members sitting at the table, as new Councilmen Kenneth Bodkins and Paul Flannery were the first to take their seats before the meeting began. In relatively short order, Council organized for the upcoming year, authorized two new purchases, and paid tribute to the late Horace Freese through the dedication of a memorial plaque.

    Routine items of organization took a few minutes at the outset of the meeting, including the election of new presiding officers for 2012 as well as the announcement of Committee assignments. These items of business occurred without the presence of Councilman Dr. Thomas Fellner, who was absent, and Councilwoman Cathy George, who was running late and arrived after those items were handled.… Read the rest

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    Council Concludes Year; Honors Two Retiring Members

    by  • December 20, 2011 • News & Views • 0 Comments

    Galion City Council was obviously in the Christmas mood on Tuesday night – the meeting was one of the shortest in recent memory, and at the end of it, two Council members actually received gifts before those assembled.

    Three items of legislation were on Council’s holiday plate for the last meeting of 2011, including one emergency ordinance and two resolutions. The ordinance would establish a deferred compensation plan for members of the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters (OAPFF). At present, this would affect only one City employee in the Galion Fire Department. This benefit plan has no cost whatsoever to the City of Galion, and is similar to that passed last week for other City employees. The measure was passed in quick order.

    After Council passed another resolution … Read the rest

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    Recovery Plan, Budget Approved

    by  • December 14, 2011 • News & Views • 0 Comments

    While proposed utility rate changes dominated the discussion at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, they were not the only items on the agenda. Included among other ordinances and resolutions under consideration were two dealing with adoption of the 2012 Recovery Plan and Budget, both receiving their Second Reading.

    In introducing the Recovery Plan ordinance, City Manager Gene Toy noted that the plan was the product of extensive work which had begun in early September of this year. Immediately after introduction, Councilwoman Roberta Wade spoke to her fellow Council members about concerns with the City’s projected 5-year General Fund balance under the plan. Over that period, the fund would go from a current $5 million balance to approximately $1 million. This, she said, meant that the City was living off … Read the rest

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